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7 Platform one European aerospace giant Airbus has revealed plans for several types of autonomous electric helicopters, joining a number of other developments (writes Nick Flaherty). The Vahana project by Airbus’ advanced development group, A 3 , is an autonomous flying vehicle for individual passenger and cargo transport. Tests of a prototype system are planned for the end of the year. “Many of the technologies needed, such as batteries, motors and avionics, are most of the way there,” said Rodin Lyasoff, CEO of A 3 . However, the project also needs reliable sense-and- avoid technology, which is also under development at Airbus. “That’s one of the bigger challenges we aim to resolve as early as possible,” Lyasoff said. On a smaller scale, Airbus Helicopters is planning to test a parcel delivery service using autonomous UAVs on the campus of the National University of Singapore in the middle of the year. On a larger scale, however, the company has plans for an electrically operated helicopter called CityAirbus that would carry multiple passengers. It would have multiple propellers and initially be operated by a pilot but would switch over to full autonomous operations once regulations are in place, building on the experience of the Vahana project. Electric helicopters are not new. The fully electric Volocopter made by German manufacturer e-volo has flown a short distance for the first time with a person on board, and Elon Musk of rocket company SpaceX is also looking at electrically powered VTOL jets. Both are lagging though behind a full- size helicopter powered by lithium-ion batteries that has already flown in the US in the first step towards autonomous operation. The helicopter, a Robinson R44 modified by Tier 1 Engineering, flew for five minutes at a height of 130 m and a peak speed of 80 knots.  The engineering team designed and integrated all the helicopter subsystems, which included 11 lithium-polymer batteries rated at 700 V, 100 Ah and weighing 500 kg. The five-minute flight drained about 20% of the battery energy, giving the prototype a 30 km range. The team expects to improve the endurance using batteries with a higher energy density, a more efficient electrical drive system and ultimately a more aerodynamic airframe. The system uses a custom mount for the electric motors and a reduction gearbox to interface with the existing drivetrain, but no changes were made to the drivetrain or flight control system. The engine bay contains the motor controllers and cooling system for the electric drive components, and the battery modules are supported by a lightweight composite panel and attached to the landing gear under the belly. There are also two, three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors that are stacked together to provide redundancy in the event of a motor failure.  The team is now working on autonomous operation by modifying the control system, which comes from Rinehart Motion Systems. … and helicopter concept Airborne vehicles Unmanned Systems Technology | February/March 2017 Tests of a prototype of the Vahana autonomous helicopter are due at the end of this year